Legend:
Name in Green: Name unique to our Grouping 102 (St. Ursula & St. Mary Parishes)
Name in Dark Yellow: Name not unique to Grouping 102   
Text in bold: Rationale for name
Text, no bolding: Saint’s bio

Blessed Family
There are no greater models of heroic holiness than Mary and Joseph who set aside their personal plans for their lives in order to make room for the Incarnation, trusting in an angel’s promise that Mary’s son would be the long-awaited Messiah. Their obedience and faithfulness could only spring from an absolute trust in the goodness and will of God.  Nothing mattered more than saying yes to God. Jesus, too, demonstrated absolute trust in his Father’s plan of salvation. He humbly traded his place with the Father and Spirit for a place in a human family, the Word of God dependent on, and obedient to, human parents. Mary and Joseph raised Jesus in the traditions of their faith and watched him grow in wisdom, grace, and mission.  Everything we need to sustain our journey of faith--as individuals and as a parish--can be found in striving to follow their example.

Saint Jeanne Jugan
Born into poverty and hardship, Jeanne Jugan spent much of her early life struggling to survive. As a young woman, she wanted to dedicate herself to God.  She believed that God had plans for her.
As a young adult, Jeanne lived with two other single women; they were a small community dedicated to prayer and service. The women taught the faith to local children and cared for the sick while Jeanne supported herself by menial work. When she was in her mid-40’s, she encountered a blind woman on the street and immediately took the woman home. Jeanne gave up her bed and slept in the attic. Soon, other poor women joined Jeanne and her housemates.  Jeanne quit her jobs and began begging to support her charitable work. She was a remarkably effective fundraiser and was soon able to afford a new building for her “guests.”  She opened her home to the poor, sick, and dying, even organizing an early prototype of hospice care. As her charitable work became known, Jeanne soon attracted many other women who wished to join her in serving the poor. From these volunteers, Jeanne established the Little Sisters of the Poor, dedicated to poverty, chastity, obedience, and hospitality. Within 8 years, there were more than 500 Little Sisters.
Saint Jeanne’s story is even more remarkable for the things that happened after she established her order. A local priest, invited to become the order’s spiritual director, forbade Jeanne to be installed as the first superior general of the order.  For a time, she was allowed to continue as a fundraiser but then was ordered to retire to the motherhouse, some distance from the sisters and their work. Once Jeanne was gone, the priest assumed leadership of the order and rewrote its history, making himself the founder. By the time his deception was uncovered, Jeanne had lived in obscurity for 27 years. Many of the younger members of her own order had no idea she was their founder. She never challenged this injustice, trusting in God’s will for her and grateful that the work which was so dear to her was continuing.
Sister Jeanne Jugan’s life demonstrates what can be accomplished when one follows God’s calling. It also demonstrates the transforming power of grace that allows a person to flourish no matter how difficult their circumstances. Faced with poverty and hardship, Saint Jeanne never sought a better life for herself. She wanted to serve God and make a better life for others. When she stepped out in faith to rescue the blind woman, Saint Jeanne discovered her gifts for organization and leadership. In a breathtakingly short time, she founded a thriving ministry and a growing religious community of women who were eager to follow her example of charity and service. The shocking, sad, unjust events of her later life only illuminate the depth of Saint Jeanne’s holiness which developed through her determined pursuit of God’s will for her.  As a parish, we will strive to live as disciples of Jesus.  Sister Jeanne Jugan’s life offers us a beautiful example of self-giving service to others, the blessings found in community, and the unshakable peace that comes from a rock-solid trust in God.

Saint Peter The Apostle
Saint John The Evangelist
Saint Timothy

Each of the saints listed above were apostles and evangelists in the early Church. Each of these names were recommended for our new parish for exactly that reason. The names of these men remind us that the faith which unites us has been handed down from the time of Jesus. These were the men who first shared the Gospel and introduced Jesus to the world.  These men remind us that our parish is built on the work of those who came before us in the faith.  These saints were among the very first to embrace Jesus’ command to make disciples for him from all people and nations. It is now our turn to carry on the mission of Jesus and his church and hand on the faith, especially to those who do not know Jesus.
Over the last several years, Saint Mary’s parish, and later, in partnership with St. Ursula’s parish, has been engaged in the work of the New Evangelization. We began by sharing the good news of Jesus in our own parish and saw faith renewed or discovered, and lives changed. In moving beyond the boundaries of our parish, we have brought others to Christ through our efforts, including those with no faith in God. We have been greatly blessed to see lives transformed by the grace that comes from a relationship with Jesus. In our day, just as in the day of these holy men, the world is largely hostile to the message of Jesus. Each of the saints named above reminds us that taking up Jesus’ mission of making disciples and building up the kingdom of God is not easy. It is work that often comes at great personal cost. None of the men whose names were recommended for our parish began their work as saints. Only Timothy grew up in the faith of Jesus. Those who were called by Christ were transformed by their encounter with him. These were ordinary men leading ordinary lives when called by the Lord to do his work. We would be honored to have any of them as the patron of our parish as we strive to continue the work of Jesus, work which they took up and work which blesses us today.

Saint Marcella
Marcella was born into a wealthy Roman family. When her father died, Marcella was urged to marry, which she did. When she was widowed 7 months later, she refused subsequent offers of marriage, including an offer that would have made her a much wealthier woman. Instead, Marcella wanted to live her life as a Christian. She had heard of the monastic communities that had sprung up for men outside Rome, but nothing like that existed for women.  So Marcella began to reach out to other women. She shared her faith with them and invited them to join her in a community of prayer and service to others. As she attracted followers, she and the other women dedicated themselves to caring for the poor. Marcella began to give away her personal fortune, saying that she would rather store her wealth in the bellies of the poor than hide it in a purse. When St. Jerome came to Rome, he became acquainted with Marcella. He was greatly struck by her personal holiness, her intense interest in Scripture, and her ability to defend the faith against the circulating heresies of the day.  As he studied Scripture and theology, Marcella was his frequent sounding board and discussion partner. He came to compare Marcella and her companions to the holy women disciples of Jesus. When Jerome moved to the Holy Land, he continued his friendship with Marcella until her death. Later, Paula, a widow whom Marcella had helped bring to faith, also moved to the Holy Land with her children. With her own personal wealth, Paula founded a convent and monastery there, while also underwriting Jerome’s scholarly work, including his translation of the Bible from Greek into Latin. 
When Rome was attacked by the Goths, Marcella’s estate was stormed by invading warriors looking for money. Marcella pointed to the poverty of her clothing to indicate that she had no hidden fortune. Disbelieved, she was beaten severely but Marcella managed to convince her attackers not to harm any of the other women in her home. The invaders took Marcella and her unharmed companions to a nearby monastery for refuge, where Marcella died of her injuries. St. Jerome was deeply grieved by the death of his friend, calling Marcella the “glory of Rome.” Paula, Marcella, and Jerome would all be eventually recognized as saints in the Catholic Church.
When Saint Marcella recognized her call to follow Christ, there were no obvious pathways for women to follow. Undeterred, Saint Marcella created her own. She shared her faith in Jesus with the women around her and invited them into community.  As she opened her home and her life to these women, Saint Marcella nurtured their faith through prayer, reading of Scripture, and service to others. Saint Marcella did not just make disciples for Jesus, her dedication to the Lord and her personal holiness helped others to become saints!  Her life includes all the elements we would like to see in our parish: dedication to, and closeness with, God, committed discipleship, faith shared within and beyond our community, and radical hospitality.  To do all this, we can use a trailblazer for a patron:  Saint Marcella would make an inspiring choice. 

Saint Maximillian Kobe
From an early age, Maximillian Kobe loved the Lord Jesus and had a great devotion to his mother. He had a vision of the Blessed Mother that inspired him to pursue a vocation as a priest. During his ministry, Father Maximillian Kobe used his God-given talents of communication and organization to build up the kingdom of God and to invite others into a closer relationship with the Lord and his mother. When the Second World broke out, Father Kobe spoke out against Nazi ideology and policies.  He refused the protection of German ancestry to shield him from persecution. He continued to minister in harm’s way until his arrest and imprisonment in Auschwitz.
Over the past 4 years, more than 1400 people have heard the story of Saint Maximillian Kobe during their participation in the Alpha program at St. Mary’s. His story is prominently featured in the video that explains why Jesus died for us. He is the first Catholic saint some of our guests have ever heard about. He lived a life of dedication and service to the Lord until the day he made a Christ-like offer to take the place of another prisoner who was sentenced to death by starvation. His final days were spent in ministry to the others dying with him. By all accounts, he used his deep faith to serve others in Jesus’ name, creating under the worse of circumstances, a community of hope, peace, and trust for his fellow prisoners in their final days. Through his story, our Alpha guests hear a heroic story of sacrifice and bravery, made possible by one man’s devotion to, and trust in, Jesus. As a parish community, striving to follow Jesus and share his good news with others, we could have no better patron than one who patterned his own discipleship on the trust, humility, and self-giving sacrifice of our Lord.

Saints Perpetua And Felicity
Saint Perpetua was born into a noble family in a Roman province of North Africa.  At 23, she was the married mother of an infant son when she and several companions including a slave woman named Felicity, were arrested and charged for being Christians. This small group—two slaves, two free men, and one noblewoman—were fellow catechumens at the time of their arrest. Although Perpetua’s father begged, threatened, and beat her in order to induce her to renounce her faith, she would not. Instead, joyfully accepted her sentence, and kept a diary of her imprisonment as she and her companions awaited their execution. Perpetua was still nursing her son while in prison; Felicity gave birth there. The young mothers were aware of all that they would leave behind yet even facing the unspeakable cruelty of being thrown to wild beasts, they would not renounce their faith. Instead, they and their companions prayed together, rejoiced in the honor they felt in suffering martyrdom for the Lord Jesus, and strengthened and consoled each other. They were a tiny community united in faith, no longer divided by gender or class. None lived long enough to even be baptized but the witness of their unwavering faith in Jesus has made them recognized and celebrated as among the earliest martyrs of the church.
The relics of Saints Perpetua and Felicity are included in the altar in St. Mary’s church. They are stellar examples of committed disciples of the Lord Jesus. These young women were intimately bound to him through love, and willing to sacrifice everything in order to stay faithful to him. Their lives, freely given, are a witness and example for us.  They remind us of the transforming power of Christ’s love, the blessings found in Christian community, and the grace and strength that is made available to those who fully trust in the Lord’s promises.

Good Shepherd
Any vision of the future for a new parish begins with a reflection on why we exist and who we exist to serve.  Our new parish will be a community united in faith because we entrust our lives to Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Jesus is the Shepherd promised by God to the prophets of old. He seeks, gathers, protects, cares for, heals, and gives rest to God’s people. In naming our parish for the Good Shepherd, we will be ever reminded that his mission is now ours to carry on.  We who have known the care and blessings of Jesus now seek to extend his love to the lost, to those who have strayed, to those who need healing, and to all who need the rest and care that only Jesus can give.

Lamb Of God
In the Scriptures, John the Baptist is constantly pointing the way to Jesus who he refers to as the “Lamb of God”.  As a Catholic Christian community, it is our responsibility to point the way to Jesus among all those who belong to our greater community.  Our parish should be where they can find the Lamb of God, specifically in the Eucharist where The Lamb is described in great detail as being at the center of the heavenly liturgy, the same liturgy we celebrate in our church and which is the source and summit of our lives.

Saint Ignatius Of Loyola
As a young man, Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s head was full of dreams of chivalry and the adventures of nobleman soldiers. The reality of war—a serious injury in battle—and a long period of suffering and convalescence led Ignatius to read the lives of the saints. Their heroic stories opened Ignatius to consider what it would be like to serve God instead of chasing glory elsewhere. By the time he had recuperated from his injury, Ignatius was resolved to live a life dedicated to God.
Ignatius’ early formation in the spiritual life began with prayer and reflection, sometimes accompanied by mystical visions. When he began formal studies for the priesthood, Ignatius began to encourage others to take up lives of piety.  As men began to join him, Ignatius invited these men to follow him into religious life. His order, the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits as they were popularly known, began with 10 men and grew to 1000 in just 15 years. The Jesuits were men of action and learning. They volunteered for every mission field, bringing the Gospel to remote places around the world and they founded schools and universities. Ignatius served as the superior general of the order, offering spiritual guidance through correspondence to his follower throughout the world. His most lasting and accessible contribution might be found in his Spiritual Exercises, a guide for spiritual formation which has used by thousands of religious and lay people seeking to find God in their everyday lives.
Saint Ignatius’ teaching has helped men and women find God in the ordinary activities of life. Whatever our vocation, Saint Ignatius believed that God was active, personal, and present to us. Finding God in our own lives encourages us to share him with others.  So much of Ignatius’ work was about sharing the Gospel with others and helping them grow closer to God.  He would be a fitting patron for a parish that strives to be welcoming, missionary, and committed to helping each person in our community experience a relationship with the Trinity.

Blessed Sacrament
The Second Vatican Council defined the Eucharist as “the source and summit” of our life (LG 11).  Sharing that belief, we hope to make our new parish a family of families where everyone experiences community and nourishment through our celebration of the Eucharist and our dedication to the Blessed Sacrament.  Through our commitment to dynamic evangelization, we hope to become a community that exists “through Him, with Him and in Him” and where we “may be gathered into one Body in Christ, who heals every division”.    We are a parish that has already experienced the power and good fruit of Alpha and look to the Eucharist to enable us to be “missionary disciples”, eager to share the gospel and serve others in His name. Everything we believe, everything God has done for us, everything we hope for, and all that God desires for us is celebrated in the Eucharist.  As we form our new parish community, we hope to make it a faith family that is distinctly devoted to faith-filled celebrations of the Eucharist and the veneration of the Blessed Sacrament.
 
Saint Anthony Of Padua
St. Anthony’s heart was already set on serving the Lord when a chance encounter with Franciscan missionaries captured his attention. He sought admission into the Franciscan order but his first missionary post ended in failure when he was overcome with illness. Not considered especially gifted, he was assigned to menial work in a hospice. One day, when his superiors were in desperate need of a preacher, Anthony, incredibly, was drafted into service. His extemporaneous preaching stunned everyone for its eloquence and effectiveness. It is said that St. Francis himself later sent young Anthony to preach all over Italy.  Motivated by his deep faith, St. Anthony was a gifted preacher; he drew large crowds everywhere he went. Even more than his words, it was the impact of his preaching that earned so much attention. Many people experienced deep and dramatic conversions through his preaching, causing them to turn away from serious wrongdoing.  Because his preaching brought about such dramatic changes in so many lives, St. Anthony was considered a wonder-worker in his day. 
God calls each of us to himself, then calls us to serve others. For us, St. Anthony is a great example of what happens when one falls in love with Jesus and desires to serve him. St. Anthony sensed a calling from God and was willing to follow that call, whatever the cost. He discovered and used his God-given gifts to build up the kingdom of God, even when God called him to use those gifts in a new direction. St. Anthony understood the need to bring the good news to others and by using the gifts God gave him to evangelize, he won many converts to Christ, allowing many lost and sinful people to join the family of God.